Okay, I have a VERY SHY daughter who will be 6 in November. She started Kindergarden this year, and for the first 2 weeks all she did was cry..This was so upsetting for her!!! She has never been to daycare and really never away from me....Well, my husband has came home from Iraq sick and I had to take him to so much doctor's appt...What I am getting at, she never really colored, used scissors, glue or anything like this...I have been trying to get her ready for school with reading and trying to get her to write her name, with no luck..I had my first confrence with her teacher (whom I love) and she said we need to be a little concerned...She did say she thinks alot of her problem is her shyness...She just now started playing with kids on the play ground..She would always swing by herself and not play with the other kids..She has a great imagination, and never gives us any problem with diciplin issues....Well, I have my cousin coming over twice a week to work with her for 1 hour at a time and after the second visit she already had her writing her name....We are now going over letter reconizing, same with numbers....I just don't know what to do....My older 2 children never had this problem...I don't know if it is a learning disorder or if it is her shyness....They are going to test her eyes and hearing just to make sure, but I have already had all this done due to her headaches she get's....They did do a ct scan and everything was normal, thank goodness....I just want to know what to look out for with learning disabilities...Any info would be great...I just can't get her to learn, all she wants to do is cry....She does do what my cousin asks, but she get's aggravated easily,my daughter that is.....Thanks, Ralinda

You probably are already working with your pediatrition on this issue. Ask him/her if some counseling would be beneficial for your daughter. She may just be overwhelmed with her dad away in Iraq, a new experience at school, and the first time she has really been away from you. For a young child that can really be taxing on her emotions and she doesn't know how to express the what she is feeling inside, thus she releases the stress through excessive crying. She doesn't yet have the experience to develop the coping skills necessary to deal with all these issues at the same time. A therapist could give you good guidence and insights into what is happening, as well as knowledge of learning disabilities and what to look for as she grows and develops. I work for a private school (secondary school grades 7-12) that specializes in kids with learning differences (we call then "differences" rather than disabilities, as most kids are very capable of learning, they just learn in different ways from the traditional learning environment). Professional help can ease your mind and give you insights to guide your daughter as she progresses through school. Excessive shyness can be a symptom of other things going on also that a counseling could help with. Many of the kids I work with learn early that it's better to be "invisible" through shyness, or develop other behavioral issues rather than to expose what they really are feeling. These behaviors only become more pronounced as they get older. Then, on top of learning challenges, the child has unacceptable behavior issues, and thus causing poor social relationships. There is a snowball effect that often comes into play that only overwhelms the child further.

I work with kids older than your daughter and so often our staff wishes parents would have intervened at an early age. Best of luck to you. Good for you for recognizing these issues while she is still young! I know how much you must love your child and how difficult it is to see her suffer. There is also a good chance that she will just "grow out" these challenges, but don't "wait and see"; she would grow out of them whether you have counseling help or not, it can't hurt to get a professional opinion.